Tainted Blood
by BadKarmaGirl
Summary: Ace is finally getting comfortable about his position as the new 2nd division commander but things get complicated when the former owner of the said position decides to return from retirement with her young trainees. Ace gets to learn he isn't the only one with dark past. MarcoxAce, ThatchxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! I haven't been around in a while and I felt like dying from shame after reading through my stuff from last decade. So I cleaned the whole account so I be re-writing some of my old fics and stuff, but I'll be writing new stories as well, of course. I have few things WIP but I start with this one. **

**Story includes some OCs, which all belong to me. Other characters as well as One Piece belong to Oda-sempai.**

**English is not my first language so I apologize the mistakes that I will most likely make.**

**I also have no beta atm so it's all up to my eyes ^^' **

**Please read and review ~**

**X-X-X**

Six years. It had taken six long years but the mission was finally completed. A pair of silver colored eyes studied the ornate signature in the sheet of paper she was holding; Kollane Ellen. She felt both relieved and plaintive to give up on her father's lifework.

"Having second thoughts?" Young man with blond wavy hair and scarred face asked. The paper was signed already but the boy knew exactly how deep connection the woman had towards her father's legacy. If she had regrets, Dragon would surely agree to cancel the contract.

She shook her head, her braided blond hair flicking from side to side. She had spent most of her life as a wanted criminal but the six years she had spent with her father's business; it wasn't something she enjoyed of. It was all done because of quilt and sense of duty. It was an end to a chapter she never expected or wished to be part of her life.

"My father always had the same ideals as your boss. I'm sure that compared to me the Revolutionary Army has way more interest and demand in terms of knowledge and goods that this contract will give you."

It was a good deal, it really was. In return Dragon would render her hometown any assistance if needed, which was highly unlikely, at least for now since the island was already protected by the strongest man in the world. But Ellen had always been a woman who needed a backup plan if something went wrong, which was probably the reason she had managed to survive most of her life in the New World. More importantly, no more paper work for her. Thank God.

The revolutionary took the contract and removed his top hat to prevent it from falling to the marble floor as he bowed to the woman. The deal would increase the versatility of their weaponry and it would give them access to information that government had kept as a secret for ages. "Dragon-san will be pleased. It is good to receive inside information from a person who had close ties to all the shady things that World Government wanted to sweep away from public."

Ellen smiled at the young revolutionary. Someone who didn't know better might have refused to make contracts with young brats like him or complained about Dragon sending a rookie to do important business but she didn't care. When he was at the age of the said boy, she had already survived a public execution and worked as a commander for one of the Emperors. "Dragon has way more influence and capability to make the change my father wished to happen while I have my own ambition. It is a pleasure to assist him to reach his goal."

The man put the contract into his bag before placing his hat back to his head. "So, am I allowed to ask how you are going to continue your life", he asked. He had hard time believing that Ellen would just continue to lay low for rest of her life.

She chuckled. Before she came to take over her father's business she framed her death in order to trick the World Government. She had quite a reputation and her 'death' made it much easier for her to infiltrate the black market and cooperate with the Revolutionary Army. If the navy had found out that she was still alive, they would have surely ordered something like Buster Call to her home island, like they did with Ohara. Or maybe an admiral would have been sent to deal with her personally.

"Well, Sabo. I think I'll go back to the life I had before my father's illness." She lifted her shirt to reveal a tattoo above her hipbone. Sure, if you didn't count the skin on her face, almost half of her body was inked. That particular tattoo, however, was her pride and joy; the symbol of the Whitebeard pirates. "Once a pirate, always a pirate."

The young revolutionary gasped silently as he stared the tattoo. Then a grin appeared to his face and he reached for his pocket to pick a piece of paper and gave it to the woman. "If you meet a guy named Ace, could you please give this to him?"

She blinked a couple times. First she thought it was a vivre card but after a moment of thinking she mentally slapped herself for being stupid. There was no way Dragon would take a risk of someone losing one which might lead into a situation where someone would find their hideout. No, it was a piece of paper with a Den Den Mushi number on it. Giving a phone number seemed stupid as hell, too, unless it was Sabo's personal one and untraceable like hers. It probably was.

"You know, my memory can be pretty short but I try to remember", she promised. The name sounded distantly familiar. She had probably read about the guy from a newspaper.

"That is all I wanted to hear." The young revolutionary waved a goodbye for the woman as he was escorted outside by two of Ellen's underlings.

After the boy was gone, Ellen reached for her snail phone and dialed the number that belonged to one of her closest friends. She knew there would be very little complains when she'd tell her former crew that she wanted to come back, but it felt like a good idea to warn them that the Antichrist herself was going to make a big comeback. Yet, at the same time she wanted to surprise the people she had called as 'family' for over two decades, which is why she called the one person that knew how to keep a secret...

XXX

It had been little less than month since Ace was requested to become a commander for the second division. After he had asked Teach, who himself had refused to accept the spot several times in the past, and came to the conclusion no one was against it, he had agreed to replace the previous commander. He was still a little wary around some of the crew but there were also those who had become extremely important for him. People who made him feel more confident about himself and think less of his tainted bloodline and his stupid father. Like Marco. Especially Marco.

Speaking of Marco, the said blond was currently running his fingers through his wavy black hair, staring the freckle faced boy with lust filled eyes. Ace tightened his arms around Marco's waist and pressed his head against his bare chest. Yeah, he and Marco were quite close. More than crew mates or friends. Lovers.

Their relationship had been a bit of a shock for most of the crew (well, for Ace too; amazing how quickly you could just hit it of with someone and fall in love) because of the 'we are family' belief that was strong among the Whitebeard pirates. Sure, when you called your fellow crew mates brothers and sisters and then you slept with one, maybe it did sound a bit questionable. Most had gotten over their negative thoughts fairly fast, but whether the reason was acceptance, scolding received from Pops or getting kicked to the face by Marco, that was a mystery. It was most likely a combination of all three.

"Marco..." Ace turned to face the blond, warm smile on his face. He tried to look as sweet and innocent as possible but Marco knew better. It might have worked if the boy next to him wasn't all naked and sweaty but in reality Ace was a horny boy and despite his young age, a beast in bed. "... the dinner won't be served quite yet, wanna go again." There it was again; that teasing whisper that drove the blond crazy.

"Can't say no to you, yoi." Marco pulled the raven-haired boy on top of him. As much as he loved it when the boy was laying beneath him, begging him to fuck him harder, it was just as satisfying to let Ace have full control of the situation. Ace was really creative when it came to sex and the boy had taught him several positions he could have never believed to work. He was really going to enjoy this.

_Purupurupuru_

Or maybe not.

"Don't answer." Ace wasn't asking, he was demanding.

For a moment Marco was planning to ignore the annoying sound coming from the Den Den Mushi and focus on the commander on top of him but then he realized it wasn't the one on top of his drawer. As a commander Marco had a snail phone he used on the missions to contact his subordinates, to call to a fellow commander if assistance was needed or to give Whitebeard a report of the said mission. Marco had another phone, for private use, which he rarely used. He originally got it to keep contact to his friends who weren't members of the crew but most of them had stopped calling him years ago. Needless to say, he was more than curious to figure out who was bothering him.

Ace frowned as Marco pushed him aside to reach the stupid phone that was under his bed. He picked the phone and answered it with annoyed voice: "Who's this, yoi."

"_Whoa, is that a way to greet a friend"_, a harsh female voice spoke, pretending to sound offended. "You sound pissed."

"Ellen!? Sorry, you just picked a bad time to call." Marco was slightly surprised by the caller and felt little less annoyed. He wanted to make the woman feel guilty about the disturbance, though. "You just cock-blocked me, yoi." Marco wasn't sure but a cough he heard from the Den Den Mushi implied that Ellen had been either drinking or eating during the call and was now choking because of his honest, blunt answer.

It took a moment before the coughing stopped. She was laughing. _"You are getting laid? Good for you birdbrain_." Marco rolled his eyes but he had to confess that he missed the teasing he always got from her. Sure, other commanders loved to make him feel uncomfortable but only Thatch was able to reach same heights with Ellen. Ace crawled closer to his lover, curious about the caller. He didn't remember ever hearing her name and the fact that she used the term 'birdbrain' without annoying the blond too bad meant they were probably close. Former lover maybe? Or just a friend?

"Why are you calling me, yoi? If I ever want to talk to you I have to call you myself. You just always gossip with Izo and Haruta." She had been one of his best friends for years but if he wanted to talk with her, it was up to him to contact her.

"_We don't gossip!" _She argued._ "We just swap information whether my man is faithful for me or not!"_ So she was taken. Ace felt little less jealous about the mysterious caller. _"But I called to tell you that I'm done with my work. I'll be there in two weeks. Just need to gather some crew first."_

Marco blinked, tightening his grip around the speaker. "You're coming here?"

"_Yes."_

"To stay or..."

"_Yes."_

Marco didn't know what to say. At the same time he was both terrified and excited. The gossip ring would expand but at the same time the only person who had any control over Thatch (not counting their captain, of course) and his shenanigans was coming back. "Have you told anyone else about this?"

"_Nope",_ was the answer. _"And I'd rather keep it that way. I want to make a big entrance and shock everyone! I know you need to tell the old man for safety reasons but I'd be really happy if this was a secret between the three of us._" Since Ace had kept his mouth shut during the call and the woman wasn't aware of his presence there would actually be four people who knew. Not that it mattered. Marco knew Ace would not be spilling the beans if he just asked him nicely.

"Is this really about surprising the others or is there a hidden agenda, yoi?" Marco had a feeling he knew what this all was about.

"_How come you can read me so well?"_ It was more of a statement than question. They had known each other for a long time, after all. _"Let's just say that I have some plans regarding Thatch, but if I can surprise everyone, that's a bonus."_

So predictable. "Pops will be happy. He really misses you, yoi. We all do." After Ellen had left, there had been a massive wave of depression on Mody Dick. It had taken months before the chaos had settled down entirely. Haruta had cried about a week, non-stop, because loosing her dear sister.

"_Miss you too._" Marco could hear that she was getting all teary eyed. It was odd to hear her getting all sentimental. _"I need to go educate some brats before I set sail so I gotta go. See you soon, birdie. I'll give you another call next week." _

The call was cut of and Marco tossed the Den Den Mushi on the floor. He noticed the weird look on Ace's face – the boy was still observing the Den Den Mushi – was he jealous or just annoyed that the damn machine totally ruined the mood and his chances to have some sinfully amazing sex? "Marco... who was that?" Yep, the boy was having his not so rare moment of insecurity and self-doubt.

Marco countered the raven's question with his own. "Have you ever seen Thatch get a proper punishment for being a moron, yoi?" Ace shook his head. He had no idea what Marco was talking about. "Well, you will soon..."

XXX

Being the first decision commander and all, Marco was often the one to be summoned to go see their captain when he needed something. That's why no one payed any attention to the blond who casually headed to speak with Pops. Luckily the nurses who were making their usual tests regarding captain's health were just leaving and Marco could talk with his old man without any disturbance.

Whitebeard smiled when he saw his son to come in. Marco was the type who didn't usually show much emotions but hid them behind his lazy gaze. There were only few people around who could truly read the man's expressions and Whitebeard happened to be one of them. He was able to tell how the blond struggled to hide his excitement. "I have a feeling something good has happened to you. Is it about Ace?"

Marco grinned. Ace had really lighten up his life on many ways but he didn't come here to share details about his sex life. It was enough of a nuisance when Izo, Thatch and on occasion, Haruta would ask him awkward questions about the said subject. "Actually, I just talked with Ellen, yoi. Said she's coming to see us. And she intends to stay, yoi."

"When?" Whitebeard couldn't believe what he was hearing. When the girl had left she had told him _'I'll be back, I promise'_, but it had been years and Whitebeard had given up all hope to get back his original second division commander. Well, he had just given Ace the said position and he hoped that the impulsive, hotheaded woman would not get upset when she would hear that her rank would drop. It had been six long years, after all.

"Within two weeks, yoi." The woman hadn't been able to give him exact day because there was no telling if there were to be any delays like marines or other pirates. She wanted to lay low until she'd return to Moby Dick. "Promised to give me other call next week, yoi."

"Go inform rest of the crew, son. We need to throw a welcoming party for her." Whitebeard pirates were not like most crews out there but they definitely loved to party.

Marco who was always extremely obedient but this time he shook his head. "She wanted to keep it as a secret, yoi."

There was a moment of awkward silence but then Whitebeard boomed into laughter. "Guararara, is it because of Thatch!?" Marco gave a mischievous grin to his captain.

"Yup, because of Thatch..."

XXX

"_This sucks"_

"_So boring"_

Four teenagers, two boys and girls, lounged in the freshly cut grass, staring the sky because finding shapes from clouds was more interesting than watching the grass to grow. Not by a big margin but still. Ellen had called them to come and see her but since she was still in the middle of some business, the kids were forced to wait outside.

"If this is another of her lectures how we are too young to become pirates, I'll cut her up!" One of the two girls whined. Her green eyes were circled by pink eyeliner and white eye shadow. Her lips were painted with the same shade of red as her long, straight hair.

"You tried that many times in the past, Heidi. How many wounds have you given her," the older teen boy mocked, knowing the answer. None. The former pirate had tried to make them drop their dreams about piracy for years but since the quartet was too stubborn to give up on their dream to sail the seas, the middle-aged rogue had decided to teach them some combat skills with two of her former partners-in-crime. They'd be free to go on their own adventures when they'd be able to hold their own against her.

"Well, my mom would let me go but as long as you keep getting your butts kicked by Ellen, mom and Darya, we ain't going nowhere", the other girl, a blond with massive, curly hair that was decorated with dozens of ribbons, spoke. Her blue eyes stopped to stare the boy who had yet to speak.

The said boy frowned at the girl's obvious attempt to put the blame on him. His brown hair was flipped to the left and his silver orbs stared back to the blue ones. "Not my fault that you got the cool parents."

"What the hell are you saying, Theon?" The other teenage boy asked with shock. "You have, like the most epic parents ever." The black haired boy started to list all the things that he loved about Theon's parents, both adoptive and biological ones. At this point everyone else just rolled their eyes because they had heard this hundreds of times before. "...and your mom has a bakery and all the cakes that don't get sold, you can just eat them!"

"I think it's good that we get proper training, though", the blond confessed. They were in the New World and heading to the sea with only four people who couldn't even beat the right hand (wo)man of a former Emperor commander would be a suicide. They all were just now reaching the age where their development would be highest and receiving some tough lessons from New World veterans was great help.

"I know, Dorothea!" The red-head, Heidi, although she agreed with her friend, couldn't help but to be annoyed because of the situation. It was irritating enough when her mom was the type to make a fuss about everything and then there was miss Kollane who was overprotective as hell. She was eighteen and definitely didn't need a babysitter anymore.

"We just need to be patient. Hans managed to disarm Ida yesterday and would have beaten her if he just avoided her hypnosis trap." Theon had had a hopeful feeling for quite sometime now. They were all improving with great pace and it was only a matter of a time before they'd get their first victory. Well, Dorothea, although youngest of the bunch, was the strongest and had defeated Ida few times already. Ellen had argued that it didn't count since she defeated her mother only because Ida didn't want to go all out against her only child. It was a crappy excuse but didn't change the fact that the other three had yet to achieve anything that would impress the former commander. "If we aren't real pirates before my seventeenth birthday, I'll go and join the Revos", he defied.

"That would be a real shame."

The quartet turned around to see a familiar pair of ridiculously high heels that belonged to no other than the ex-pirate Ellen herself. The woman, loyal to her fairly unique style, was wearing a garland that was made of thorns on her blond, braided hair. Wide strip of green makeup run through her face,surrounding her darkly lined eyes, ending just below her two silver piercings next to her brows. Her black tights were ripped and her brownish-green miniskirt was decorated with belt that was made of red roses. Her army styled shirt was left open, showing of the band of black fabric that covered her breasts and her fit torso that was covered with tattoos. In addition she had her unique accessories that were made of wood, flowers, leafs and roots.

Heidi gave a mean look to the woman before she spoke: "What do you want? Why are we here?" She made no effort to hide the negative feelings she had towards the blond who seemed to give zero crap about the way she was addressed. Then again, sailing the seas for so long she probably had learned to ignore bad manners ages ago.

Silver orbs studied all the four youngsters, wide smile on black lips. "You always go on and on how you want to be pirates. I've decided that if you still, like you probably do, want to become pirates, I'm not stopping you."

The level of shock among the teens after Ellen's words was so high that you couldn't possibly measure it. There had to be a catch – there was no way that the woman who had yapped years of how they should do something else with their life would suddenly just change her mind.

"That is if you decide to come with me."

They knew it! It would have been too good to be true.

"Are you telling us that you are leaving?" First Hans felt really upset about the idea of his mentor leaving, but that feeling lasted only few seconds since he realized that the woman he admired and who had inspired him to become a pirate in the first place was asking him to join her crew!

"I have no reason to be here. I came to fix things with my father and now that I'm done I want to go back to the people that are dearest to me." She noticed a slight amount of hurt in the eyes of both Theon and Heidi, which made her realize the mistake she did. "That is if you come with me. I'd like to have all of you around which is why I'm asking you to join me."

"I'm in!" Dorothea announced as she jumped up. She had lived her whole life, just like her friends, on this god forsaken island. It was a calm and nice place but she wanted action. She was a daughter of a pirate after all and the will and desire to go on adventures was in her blood.

Hans followed her example, flailing his arms as he bounced with excitement. Heidi on the other hand looked disgusted at the idea of going with the woman. She glared at her, anger and hatred glowing from her green eyes. "If we refuse and you go, you are no longer able to control us. You leave and we leave after you – as a crew of our own." Yep, the only reason they were still there was Ellen. With her gone no one could tell them what to do anymore.

She was probably expecting Ellen to start an argument with her or at least hear her friends agree with her and drop the offer they received from the soon-to-be-a-pirate-again. But there was no response. Instead Theon asked a question she never expected to hear from his mouth. "When you say you go back to the people you love the most... you mean the Whitebeard pirates, right?" Ellen gave him a warm smile as she nodded.

Theon bit his lip. He knew just how much Heidi detested Ellen but he also knew that they might not get very far without her. And then there were all his mixed and personal emotions that made it hard for him to think spending time with the pirate. "I'll come too", he blurted out, ignoring all the things that his brain tried to tell him and went with the flow instead. He could hear something break and he was sure it was Heidi's sanity. She'd give him hell next time they'd be alone.

"Well, I come too, then. But only because my friends are morons", the red head spatted, crossing her arms and trying to stare a hole through Ellen's forehead. Unfortunately it didn't work.

The pirate ignored her bad behavior once again and clapped her hands together. "Wonderful", she laughed happily. "But there is one more thing." All four youngsters froze. "Heidi is eighteen already so technically she can do what she wants and Ida has made it clear that she wants Dorothea to come with me." She kept a slow pause as she placed her hands on the shoulders of the two boys, "But you two are underage, which means that you can come if your parents allow you to."

Her words were not enough to stop Hans from beaming happily. He was a bit of a spoiled brat and could ask anything from his parents. Theon on the other hand looked like someone he cared about had just died.

"_Fuck" _

**X-X-X**

**So, this was the first chapter. Not many things happening here but I wanted to introduce all the brats and show a bit of the relationships that they have with Ellen. And then there was the appearance of Sabo, which may lead into a situation where Ace finds out he's alive. When that happens, who knows. **

**Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter and if you spot mistakes feel free to point them out because my English ain't perfect.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Next chapter is here! I think this turned out much better than the previous chapter. Still very OC focused but most of them fade to the background in the later chapters. Ellen and Theon are the two that have a bigger role, rest are more of a little additions and linked to my other fic that I'm re-writing currently. **

**Still no beta so sorry about the typos if there's any. **

**Read&Review please ~**

**XxXxXx**

He wanted to smash his head against a wall. There was no way his mother would let him go to the sea. She'd try to make him feel guilty by pointing out how such action would disrespect the wishes of his biological parents, who gave him away because they were wanted criminals and wanted to give him a chance to have a normal life.

His parents weren't home, no surprise there, both had their own business that kept them busy after all. The ship would leave approximately in two or three hours, depending how long it took for the girls to pack (because they were always so slow), so Theon figured he could pack his stuff before his parents got home. Maybe he could just lie that he would go camping and fake a note with his mother's signature to make it look like he was allowed to go? Yup, that sounded like a plan. A plan that could go wrong in many ways, but sometimes you just had to gamble a little.

He started to get through his wardrobe, throwing all the clothes he'd take with him to his bed, which ended up being majority. Rest were shoved to the top shelves. His home island had sixteen seasons, so he probably had suitable clothing for every possible weather condition out there.

The packing took about half an hour. He felt like he had all he needed, except his sword, which was held in a locked closet at the hallway. And then he'd have to write a note that would get through Ellen's radar. She could probably tell if her BFF's signature wasn't authentic. He really had to put up his best performance.

XXX

"Where is he!?" Heidi was getting frustrated, tearing her red hair with anger. She wanted nothing to do with Ellen and now the only person who could possibly make her tolerate the blond, was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe his parents didn't allow him to come with us", Hans mumbled. It would suck to be stuck with nothing but girls for few weeks. Not that he and Theon had much in common, but still. Plus, he knew that there were now two people on board who couldn't even boil water, one person who was unable to touch half of the ingredients because of allergies and such and one who knew how to cook some basic dishes. They would starve to death without him, or live with veggies and all things that definitely weren't meat.

Ellen sighed. It looked like the boy was not coming. That stubborn kid should have just asked her, but the young man was still trying to play his little game. Valentina had told her five years ago that Theon knew who his real parents were and ever since that moment she had waited the boy to find the courage and comfort her about the matter. But he had obviously decided that he'd keep quiet until she'd confess herself, that stupid brat.

"I guess we have to leave without him. We can't wait the whole day." Ellen was upset by the turn of the events, but not quite as upset as Heidi who was having a I-don't-wanna-go-without-him tantrum. The girl was seriously reconsidering her situation and probably thinking about abandoning the ship.

They started to board the ship with their bags and Ellen had some regrets with her decision to pick a fishing vessel as their mode of transportation. With the amount of belongings that they all had taken with them, there might be difficulties to get all of it fit to the storage room. Still, there was no way she could have taken her own ship, the one she used to sail before joining Whitebeard pirates. The figurehead of that ship was very real looking, crucified skeleton after all – anyone would recognize it. She wanted the world to think that she was dead just a little longer, make sure that the teens would get to Moby Dick before she'd get into trouble with World Government again.

As they were about to set sail, they heard a scream that told them to wait. All four of them turned around to see the boy that they had waited. The teens cheered as the brunette ran towards them, slowed down by the massive back bag and two cases. His friends went to help him with his bags while Ellen stared the boy, unreadable look on her face.

"I got the permission", he said tiredly and pulled a note from the pocket of his dark, ripped jeans. "Here!"

He was slightly nervous as the silver orbs traveled on the paper, taking a close look of each letter. This wasn't first time he faked a signature, but he usually did it only when his friends got bad grade from an exam that needed to be returned to teachers – signed.

"I guess it's all settled then", the blond spoke after she had finished reading the note through carefully. The teens laughed and hugged each other, excited to finally get away from the boring, isolated island.

Ellen went to the kitchen as the others removed the rope that was tied to a wooden post, finally setting sail. After a few minutes she returned with a silver tray with five glasses of wine.

"Boys and girls", she started, grabbing a glass from the tray. "This will be our first adventure together", she spoke proudly. For six years she had trained them, watching how they got stronger day by day. "So let's try to get along, even if all of you don't think that highly of me." Her eyes drifted to Heidi at that point. The read head huffed at her words but the blond ignored the girl and raised her glass. "For freedom and dreams!"

"For freedom", the teens chanted in unison, grabbing their own glasses, celebrating the beginning of a new chapter in their lives.

The teens watched how the place they had considered home all these years was slowly getting further and further. Ellen didn't care. If it was up to her, she would have never returned to that island in the first place. These troublesome brats were the only thing that had kept her sane all these years she had been away from the place she considered her home. Away from her friends and lover.

After they had emptied their glasses, Hans begged for more wine while Heidi simply stated that she was eighteen so she could drink as much as she wanted. For their surprise she let them drink more – pirates were meant to party anyway and Heidi was far less hostile when drunk. Pleased, the said duo headed to the galley, leaving the youngest two on the deck until Dorothea figured she should go grab a jacket or something since it was getting chilly, leaving Theon together with the middle-aged pirate.

She placed her hand on the boys shoulder, giving him a little scowl. "What did you tell them?"

Theon was startled by the question but tried to be as if he had no idea what she was talking about. It didn't work, though. But if she knew, why did she let him go?

"I almost fell for the note, the signature was just like hers", she told him, sounding more impressed than angry. "But the way she writes O, hers are wider." The teen blushed, sheepish smile on his face. Ellen tried to keep stern look on her face – when Valentina would discover the truth, she'd be in real trouble, but the boy was too adorable to be mad at. Just like she could never stay angry when she had to deal with the shenanigans of the teen's father. Damn, she had definitely gotten soft during her temporary retirement.

"You better not get into trouble or Val will kill me", she threatened, sounding less hostile than she intended to. Sure, they were pirates so trouble would get into their way sooner or later, but she could always hope for a miracle. She didn't want to end up being butchered and fed to the piranhas by her best friend. "When she notices your stunt and calls me, you better take the blame yourself!" She demanded.

The brunette nodded. "I promise. Thanks for letting me come m-", he halted his words, realizing he almost called Ellen his mother. He wouldn't do that, not in a million years. He couldn't do that to the people who had raised him. He knew that when the blond pirate had given him away, she had her reasons. Good ones, too, and he had forgiven her years ago. Yet, he was not ready to bond with her, he needed time to get to know her better and being stuck on the same ship was a good start. "Thanks Ellen", he corrected, pleased that the blond didn't notice his slip. "I gotta go unpack my things", he excused himself. Being alone with her made him feel awkward. Not blurting out his secret turned out to be more difficult now that there was no training involved.

Ellen smiled as she lit a cigarette and watched the boy go inside. "So, he doesn't know that I know..."

XXX

Ace felt like he was about to lose it. He had tried not to think about the calls Marco got, but every time he was about to get over it, there would be another call and then he'd get jealous again. To make things worse, it was obvious that the blond had figured out how stressed he was about it, yet that asshole did nothing to ease his suspicions. The blond was enjoying the situation way too much for his liking. Not that he could blame him since a jealous Ace was a clingy Ace and Marco obviously loved all the extra attention the young commander gave him.

There was also another thing that made him feel upset – he was starting to realize that recently most of his focus had been on Marco. He had been given the position as the commander of the second division, yet the only people from his division he actually knew properly were those who had been part of the Spade Pirates.

He really wanted to fix it, which was why he decided to eat the dinner with some of his division members instead of the usual company that was the other commanders. He spotted Teach (after his former crew, the big man was most familiar to him) with a few men who were complete strangers to him. He wasn't even sure if they were from his division, so he picked another table, one at the furthest corner of the dining area. The said table was occupied by one person only, but one that Ace knew to be one of his subordinates. The lack of females, other than the nurses, guaranteed that the dark skinned, long haired woman in her mid-to-late forties would stand out from the rest of the crew.

"Can I join you?" The young commander asked. The woman lifted her gaze from her plate and for a short while she stared the boy (well, more like his full plate) with her brown eyes, making him nervous and expect refusal. In the end she did nod and motioned him to sit down, but pretty much ignored his presence and focused on the white wine on her glass, like it was much more interesting as the man opposite her.

Ace didn't know much about her, not even the name, but most of the crew called her black widow anyway, because she apparently got her first bounty for killing her husband. She was also rather skilled with her sword, one of the best after the sword wielding commanders. He had yet to see her in action, but Thatch and Vista, the best swordsmen on board, acknowledged her skills and that was enough for Ace.

How to start a conversation with her, Ace didn't know. It was already clear that the woman wasn't paying any attention to him, and he didn't want to make her think that he was boring or anything like that. "Why are you eating alone?" He finally asked after swallowing a mouthful of food. Most crew, even if they weren't bottomless pits like Ace, had bad table manners, but she seemed far too sophisticated to appreciate people who spoke when they were still having food on their mouths.

She just shrugged and took another sip of wine. "Why are you eating with your subordinate?"

Ace let out a nervous laugh. " I figured I should get to know who I work with. My mind's been kinda elsewhere." He was a bit embarrassed. It was clear that the woman knew what he meant. His relationship with Marco was far from a secret – everyone knew.

She chuckled softly and grabbed the teen's hand. "No need to be ashamed, I've been in this crew for over twenty years and I can assure you – you're not the first commander to get distracted by love and lust." Ace figured she was probably trying to make him feel more comfortable, but her words just made him blush harder. "Not even if we only count this division."

Ace had never really wondered why the spot of the second division had been vacant, apparently, several years. It had never felt relevant or important. He noticed the woman to get little nostalgic when she thought about her former commander, whoever that had been. She emptied another bottle of wine and was getting a bit tipsy. If you asked Ace, it was way too early to get drunk, not that she agreed.

"You said you want to get to know me." After starting the third bottle, she figured she might as well open up to the young commander, even if she wasn't the type to talk about things, but this boy reminded her quite a lot of her former commander, her former captain before their small crew merged with Whitebeard's. "What would you like to know?"

XXX

Chances to encounter trouble in the New world were high. That's why it had been a miracle that the pirate crew of five had managed to stay away from all possible trouble, aside few things that were weather related, but even those proved to be less of an issue than Ellen had feared. She had taken the role as the night watch and slept during the days,which slowed their journey since the kids had very little to none experience with navigation, but thankfully enough Heidi was very intelligent girl and little briefing from the 'captain' (because she'd be one until they'd reach Moby Dick) was enough to keep them on course. She had problems with the most extreme weather conditions, but Ellen had enough experience to feel them even in her sleep and rushed to the rescue when needed.

Theon was the only one who really knew how to cook versatile and pay attention to the special diets. He had conquered the kitchen to make sure Heidi couldn't try little tricks like sneak meat or fish into Ellen's plate (she was a vegetarian and allergic to fish). The remaining duo spend most of their time entertaining others. Hans told his jokes (that others had heard what felt like million times already) and Dorothea would sing for hours without her voice caving in. When she wasn't singing or playing any of the various instruments her mother had taught her to play, she'd try to convince the others to play poker with her. None of them agreed even once.

Then there were their sparring sessions, which lead to several cases where someone was sent overboard. Luckily none of the teens were fruit users and Ellen wasn't dumb enough to jump to the rescue, so there were no frustrating save-a-hammer-from-drowning incidents. The most dreadful moment had been about a week after their departure, when Theon's parents figured out that the whole camping thing had been a lie. The shit storm Ellen got from her best friend had been horrifying, even for the veteran pirate, and the moment Theon took the snail phone and explained it was all his fault, it was the best moment (for Ellen) during their journey.

After two and half weeks they were finally there. When Hans had spotted the Moby Dick, girls had started to panic – because they feared they didn't look presentable enough. Boys had rolled their eyes to their behavior but Ellen noticed both of them taking few glances at the mirror to check their own appearances. Ellen was more wary of the possible hostile reactions from the crew of the strongest man in the world, but no signs of such actions was shown so the blond figured either Marco or Pops was on the deck to prevent anyone acting foolishly.

With no danger at sight she performed a quick striptease, switching her skimpy dress to tight denim shorts and a top that had its back removed, giving full view of her tattooed back. Her actions resulted a very red-faced Theon and a thumbs up from Hans who was staring a bit too intensively. His friend smacked him to the back of his head and hissed at him, not appreciating the way the raven drooled at the sight of his half-naked mother.

As they got closer to the huge ship, they could see how people rushed to the railing, curious to see what was going on. In the middle of the crowd a huge man stood out from others, his large frame making others look like ants. Whitebeard smiled as his eyes met with the woman's. She gave him a smirk in return.

"Permission to board?" She asked, but for her it was nothing but a formality as she jumped to the railing of her own ship even before the old man gave her a nod.

She placed her hand on the side of her boat and suddenly a branch shot through it's side, the narrow end twirling itself around the railing of Moby Dick. She balanced her way across the branch with little effort and jumped on the deck of Moby Dick. She could see plenty of confusion around her; several pirates who were currently present had joined after she left and were unaware of her relationship to their captain, but there were lots of familiar faces and they seemed to be excited. She turned around to show the teens that they could join her before giving all her attention to the old pirate.

"Yo! It's been a while", she spoke. "I assume Marco told you that I intend to stick around?"

"Guarara! Cheeky brat...", he laughed and closed a delicate hand inside his huge one. The woman had some issues when it came to personal space so he figured a handshake would have to do, even if he wanted to give a warm hug to his dear daughter who had finally returned to him. "Good to have you back", he welcomed before pointing his finger towards the teens who were carefully trying to get on board without falling to the sea. "I see you brought company, what's with the brats?"

"Just trying to save four morons from certain death. Tried to make them drop the idea of piracy for years but they are too stubborn to listen. It's okay for them to join, right? You always had a soft spot for young delinquents after all." Whitebeard couldn't help but to laugh at her words. All the troublesome brats that had gotten under his wings during all these years, starting from Marco (who had actually grown to a responsible adult) Thatch and Ellen decades ago to his newest troublemaker son Ace, were more than enough evidence to prove that she was telling the truth.

"Boys, go give a helping hand to the kids!" The old pirate ordered. "Get their bags too."

As much as Ellen wanted to catch up with her captain, she figured she could do it later. Her eyes spotted Marco who was standing little further. Most of other commanders were present, too, but Marco was one of the few who she was really close with – one of the few who was allowed to invade her personal space to be more exact. She ran to the first division commander and almost tackled him to the ground as she jumped on him, squeezing him into tight hug.

Phoenix returned the hug, happy to have his friend join them again. "I've missed you, yoi." He gave a small peck on her cheek, pleased that Ace was still eating. The boy would interpret the situation as something it wasn't. He couldn't wait to introduce them to each other. Ellen had teased him years of how he was still single but now she was forced to pick someone else as her victim. It would most likely be Jozu.

Ellen could have stayed like that longer, but there was something she needed to do. An irritated scowl appeared to her face, heavily painted eyes staring directly into the blue ones. "Now, where is that moron who decided that not calling me in three months was a good idea?"

XXX

Thatch studied the reports of the latest stocks. The numbers didn't add up no matter how many times he counted. He figured he might do miscalculations once, maybe even twice but there was no way he'd get wrong numbers five times. The amount of meat and alcohol beverages they had purchased from the last island was way beyond the usual, which implied that there would be a party or two, but he was the head chef and if there was a party he'd definitely be informed. He should ask Marco about it. As the first mate, The Phoenix would definitely know if something unusual was going on.

Well, that had to wait since he was even busier than usual, all thanks to Ace who had spent even more time in the mess hall than usually, which was a lot. The young commander was having fun with Laura, who had isolated herself from most people after her closest friends had retired. It was a good thing that she was opening up to the raven teen and vice versa. He could see why they got along so well, even if they shared very few things in common. The fire user was just like the older pirate's former captain, commander, closest friend. Thatch had noticed it too right away, which was probably the reason it had been so easy for him to approach the murderous, hate filled kid that Ace had been when he was first dragged on Moby Dick.

He noticed that Ace's plate was almost empty again so he put together another huge mountain of food. He was getting used to the boy's incredible skill to inhale all that food but he still wondered where it all went. Sure, Ace did his fair share of work out, but even then it seemed weird for him to stay so fit. Maybe it was genetic – the few times their encounter with Roger had been partying instead of fighting, the late pirate king had loved food, not as much as Ace, but way more than an average person. With another mountain of (mostly) meat he went to the young commander who was listening another story with a large smile on his freckled face.

"This piece here -hic- is my most valuable possession", the slightly drunk female pirate pointed out proudly, showing Ace the huge jewelry on her golden necklace. "It's a real ruby and this necklace is custom made by captain herself. Everyone in our -hic- crew has one~" she sang and gave a kiss to the gemstone.

Ace studied her with curiosity. Whoever her captain had been must have been an amazing person. Last two hours had been incredible. He had learned so much about this woman, more than he knew about anyone else on this ship. Heck, Luffy was probably the only person in the entire world he knew better. It was amazing to talk with her. All those adventures she had gone trough, especially before joining Whitebeard pirates, were so awesome. Hearing about all the skillful robberies their small, six member crew pulled of reminded him times when he and Sabo (and later Luffy) wrecked a havoc as kids, collecting savings (robbing people) so that they could get a ship and become pirates when they'd get older. And he couldn't help but to laugh as he learned that her pick-pocketing Marco and her captain stealing from Thatch had been the reason they eventually joined Pops' crew.

"Having fun I see", Thatch interrupted, placing another pile of food in front of Ace.

The raven thanked his fellow commander before he started to vacuum all that food into his mouth. Laura giggled at the sight before lifting her gaze to the fourth division commander. "Thatchyyyyy," she screamed, "Come and join me and pretty boy~"

He grinned but shook his head. "Sorry, gotta check few things with Marco."

The woman pouted, not liking what she was hearing. "You are no -hic- fun. Eli agrees with me ya know!"

Thatch paled at her words, his usual cheerfulness fading away. "You've been talking with her?"

Laura groaned and drank more. She ignored her glass like it wasn't there and took a gulp straight from a bottle. "She was really -hic- pissed. Not that I blame her." She smashed the bottle to the table so hard that she accidentally broke it. Ace stared the older pirates with curiosity. Saying that Thatch looked horrified would have been understatement.

"Ya know -hic- you might get out of this mess -hic- if you just go and buy the damn ring already!" She scolded. "Be a man!"

Ace chewed his food, confused. The mention of a ring felt weird, first thing popping into his mind being an actual wedding ring. But Thatch didn't even have anyone as far as he knew. Unless he was secretly dating one of the nurses. Then again, if so, then the calls wouldn't fit. Maybe he knocked up some poor woman who was now stuck with him? Whatever it was, Thatch didn't like this topic, which made the raven to want to know more. It was rare to anyone to get under the brunette's skin.

Sudden commotion from the deck interrupted them, however, and all three of them rushed to see what was going on, commanders ahead while Laura followed them with wobbly steps. Thatch was extremely thankful of the sudden change of events, not knowing what was waiting him outside.

When they opened the door that gave them a view to the deck, Ace froze. First thing he noticed was Marco who was embracing some woman who he didn't know. The worst part was that it wasn't just a hug but Marco, his Marco was kissing that tramp. He felt his body heating up, as if it acknowledged that he wanted to burn that woman to a crisp. He only got more pissed as he heard Laura to start calling the woman with her name; Ellen.

_Fucking Marco. _

**A/N:**

**Yeah, the ending didn't go as I planned. I had decided to end this chapter to a certain spot but as I wrote this, the number of pages just went higher and higher so if I went according the original plan, the number of pages would have been at least three more. And maybe I wanted to torture Ace a bit, just a little. :p**


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